The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| Chye Seng Huat Hardware: Coffee anyone? Posted: 03 Mar 2013 04:14 PM PST  The coffee bar logo. – Pix by CK Lim SINGAPORE, March 4 – The historical Jalan Besar neighbourhood is pretty quiet on Sundays. The rows of post-colonial shophouses have settled into a relative calm after a week of relentless industry.
A few doors away, an unassuming hardware store stands along Tyrwhitt Road, gleaming white with what appears to be a fresh coat of paint over its Art Deco façade. Peer through the square grilles of the windows and you might observe a rather different sort of hardware being put to use: an espresso machine. This dramatic contrast might befuddle casual visitors but Singaporean coffee aficionados can appreciate the paradox: old-time Chye Seng Huat Hardware is now the coolest bean in town.
Launched in August 2012, it has proved to be an auspicious one (Chye Seng Huat means "to flourish" in Hokkien) for though we arrive only a few minutes after opening, the café is already half-full. How to get inside though? The front entrance is closed up, and if you've tried waving at hipster coffee types you know the sort of response you're likely to get, much less through iron bars and glass windows.
Behind us, a trio of cyclists enter the sunny courtyard, park their bikes by the exposed wall, and saunter into the coffee bar in their spandex body suits. Something else to capture the customers' attention besides the news, I guess. Chye Seng Huat Hardware is divided into four major areas – the Coffee Bar (where coffee is made and served), the Roastery (where micro production methods result in unique roasting profiles for their beans), the Workshop (for barista training and classes) and the Annex (an experimental tasting bar for intimate coffee appreciation sessions).
Shaped like a teardrop, this 3600 bar is where all the action is. At one end, a barista looking dapper in his well-tailored shirt and starched brown apron pulls shot after shot of espresso and pours precisely foamed milk into immaculate latte art. Steady, sure, no sweat. Elsewhere another barista carefully measures out single origin beans for filter coffee lovers.
Good thing too, for the cold brew method extracts the best of the beans used; in this case, the bright citrus notes of the Ethiopian Sidamo shine through with a clean aftertaste. They even have coffee beer on tap for those who need an alcoholic kick to their morning (or evening) cuppa. Now everyone can drink coffee. (Wouldn't be a bad motto, yes?)
In between bites of cake and sips of coffee, we can't help but nose around; the café is too beautiful not to. There are scores of vintage records neatly stacked away; these aren't just for display as they have a functional gramophone. The songs you hear may well have been the same songs played back in the good old days when this café was still a hardware shop. There's nothing quite like the warm sound of vinyl. And nothing quite like a good cup of coffee. Fortunately for us, Chye Seng Huat Hardware has both in spades. Chye Seng Huat Hardware 50 Tyrwhitt Road, Singapore 207563, Tel: +65 6396 0609, Opening hours: 9am to 7pm (Tue –Thu); 9am to 10pm (Fri – Sun); closed Mondays, or visit the website. * Kenny likes software too. Read more café stories at lifeforbeginners.com. |
| An app to share your dining history with Posted: 03 Mar 2013 03:28 PM PST
Developed by international reservation site OpenTable, the Places I've Eaten app taps into the social networking platform to promote the sharing of information and allows users to book reservations. Users can search for restaurants based on ratings, needs (kid-friendly environment), desires (waterfront view) and the places where friends have dined. The new app could be described as an extension of FoodSpotting which OpenTable acquired earlier this year. Meanwhile, another popular food-discovery app is Forkly, which makes recommendations on the best places for specific dishes. For instance, if you're in the mood for a good burger, the app will make recommendations based on your location and ratings from friends and fellow users. For travelers looking for the best local eats, TripAdvisor's Local Picks ranks restaurants worldwide based on the opinions of local residents. Their 'Foodies' newsfeed also shows users which restaurants their Facebook friends have tried. The app covers 850,000 restaurants around the world. – AFP-Relaxnews |
There are ringing chimes and the chanting of mantras by devotees at the Thekchen Choling Tibetan Buddhist temple at Beatty Lane. Soon the Sunday service will convene at the church opposite.
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